Cigarettes and Glitter Kisses
by girleater
Summary: We're not angst goddesses. We're royalty; and you'd better not forget that. -Femslash- multiple pairings, modern day.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I just realized that the Ella Enchanted fan fiction archive has a dangerously low amount of "modern day" fics that actually involve the canon EE characters. I feel that it is up to me to remedy this harrowing situation. This is the first part of a rather lengthy tale, which takes place in a modern-day private school, with delicious social deviance. Yay! Hattie/Ella in _abundance! _This entire fic was inspired by Sleater-Kinney songs. It's what came up on my play list…anyway, enjoy!

_I do not own Ella Enchanted. It belongs to Gail Carson Levine. _

_**cigarettes and glitter kisses **_

_**Olive and Cecelia, trying to fit in…**_

Popularity was everything. Anyone at Madame Edith's School for Girl's could tell you that. And they would tell you repeatedly, just in case you'd forgotten, which you never would, because without popularity, you would never fit in. I didn't know if I fit in or not--I was kind of to the side, in the middle, never really belonging to any set group of girls. I was nothing like my older sister, who was able to mingle effortlessly with any and every crowd. That was never in my bag of tricks. No, I simply tried my best to make it through the day, which was always so much harder then any ritual had a right to be.

Smoke breaks had become my best friend. Oh, no they never allowed anyone _actual _smoke breaks.

Smoke break = lunch. Lunch was something that I skipped often. Hattie never bothered to sit with me, and sitting alone in a crowded cafeteria was just not a good thing. Trust me; it's not ideal at all. So I stood outside and smoked. Not very legal, but when you're my age, right and wrong is the last thing to cross your mind. Sixteen just wasn't fun. Sweet sixteen? Don't make me gag. I was an angst goddess, and goddamnit I was proud. At least I did something right.

"Care if I smoke with you?"

No one ever asked me that. No one ever asked if they could do _anything _with me. I looked up, and saw none other than Cecelia, Charmont's--Hattie's biggest fantasy--sister. I chuckled at the irony. She gets the brother, I get the sister? Is that the way things work nowadays? Well, whatever, I suppose I'll bite the divine hand that feeds.

"Of course you can; here." I hand her a cigarette, and she takes it eagerly, lighting up. "This is totally illegal, Olive. Does your angel of a sister know?" I snort--"_Angel? _Are you fucking kidding me?" I hardly ever swore aloud. Madame Edith would give me detention, and say that I had disgraced the Prime Minister, Jerrold. "No, I'm not _fucking _kidding you." She chuckles at her own "joke." I take a drag from my cigarette, and look at her. "For one, she fantasizes about your brother, and trust me, she doesn't simply want to kiss him and leave it be."

"I already knew that. Too bad this is an all-girls school."

"That doesn't stop her."

"REALLY?!"

Her surprise astounds me. I thought it was common knowledge that my sister played both fields? Well, okay, let me clarify: She settles for the home team when the visitors can't make it. There, that's much better.

"She has no qualms about _anything. _She's done things that would make Madame Edith faint."

Cecelia just says "wow" and goes back to her cigarette. It feels good to render someone speechless.

"So, how about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you mess around with…other girls?"

I have to suppress a laugh. I've never messed around with _anyone. _No boys, no girls, no in-betweens.

"I've never…no." I changed my response half-way through. Cecelia didn't seem to notice, so I sighed in relief.

"Would you like to try?"

I dropped my cigarette, and quickly stamped on it. "W-what?"

"Would you like to try…with me?"

"What are you…are you asking me to…"

"I am. Now, would you like to? Your sister can't have all the fun, right?"

This is true; I'm not going to deny it. She smiles at me, and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "You deserve to be a little scandalous, too, I think." She brushes my cheek with her fingertips, and kisses me. Soft, sweet, all of the things that a first kiss should be. We're not angst-y teenagers who are trying to piss of mommy and daddy my "experimenting." We're _real. _It's passion, new, and sudden, but so _real. _I have no other words to describe what her lips on mine and her hands in my hair feels like and what it means to me. It means everything, and yet it means nothing. I don't know what to think. Because I'd never thought anything of Cecelia--the daughter of the prime minister--until now. Her lips move against mine, slowly, still retaining that gentle essence, and I wrap my arms around her waist. I imagine us--embracing, kissing, and certainly not chaste at all. We're disgracing the prime minister, and the rules, and _everything that we've ever been taught. _

And I don't care, for once, because for once, I fit in.

And I like it.

A/N: The next chapter is Hattie/Ella. The story is made up of events in the character's lives, told from the point of view of Olive, Ella, Hattie, Cecelia, Areida, Blossom, and Delicia. This is going to be so delicious. I'm excited just thinking about it. I'll have more up soon!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yay! I'm finally updating this! I owe Spirit of the Phoenix, for giving me the drive to finally come back to this story! Now, in the previous chapter, I said that the story was inspired by Sleater-Kinney songs. Well, the chapters that involve Hattie and Ella will be inspired by Tori Amos songs. The darker mood fits Hattie/Ella. They're not a very happy pairing, are they? Haha. Now, then, on to the chapter two!

_**cigarettes and glitter kisses **_

_**Hattie and Ella, playing games with cold hearts…**_

It was much colder out than I had anticipated. The wind was harsh, whipping my face and sending tendrils of my jet-black hair everywhere. It was ridiculous that I should have to resort to locking myself outside my dormitory just to _think. _Really, all I wanted to do was ponder. It sounded so wonderfully philosophical when I said it; _Arieda, I'm going outside to be alone with my thoughts. _Her response was always so delightful; _Attempt to decode the stars for me, would you? _Of course, I had more important things on my mind than stars and planets. No, what I was thinking about would take more than astrological wherewithal to understand. It would take everything that I had not to give up on it. Because God knows I would rather do anything but attempt to wrap my thoughts around _her. _

Hattie.

It was common knowledge at Madame Edith's School for Girl's that Hattie and I loathed each other with the fiery intensity of a thousand hells. It was oh-so obvious, in the way we looked at each other, in the way we spoke to one another. We were cold and curt towards each other, and that was the way I was sure it would stay.

But lately…

During lunch, my personal favorite period of the day (not because of the food, but because of the front-row seat I had to Olive and Cecelia's exploits), Hattie had done what I thought I would never see her do.

She abandon her usual table with Blossom and Delicia, and sat with Arieda and I. This was so out-of-character for her that I was sure I was dreaming. She hadn't spoken to us, hadn't even eaten, she only peeked at me every so often; looking up from the novel that she was reading to casually study my face. It was disconcerting, and ever since then, I couldn't tolerate her. When she taunted me, when I was so sure that she hated me, being around her was sinfully easy. But when she showed a polite interest in me…

…well, let's just say that I wanted to sink through the floor and never resurface. I had tried, numerous tines, to figure out her reasons for wanting to be _near me_. The bitch usually didn't come within an inch of me if she had the choice.

"Ugh!" I groaned, exasperated, throwing my hands up in the air in a (comical) gesture of annoyance. This was ridiculous! Losing sleep over _her_! I shouldn't even care. It's silly, worrying myself to near-insanity over her sudden interest in my eating habits. I stared ahead of me, admiring the way the moon hit the lake that surrounded the school. It was a full moon, too.

"Ah-ha, there you are." _That voice_! Nasally and syrupy, just like her mother. I whip around, indignant, and glare at her. She's standing outside, her back to the French window, honey-colored hair shining slightly in the moonlight. I can see Areida on the other side of the windows, looking both shocked and sympathetic. Apparently, she hadn't been able to distract the rabbit with carrots. At least you tried, Arieda.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't _you_?" She retorts, and in spite of myself, I mumble "touché."

"I have a perfectly good reason for being out here, unlike you." I say, crossing my arms. She merely smirks, and I'm suddenly overcome with the urge to hit her in the face.

"Of _ course _you do. Arieda says that you're…_thinking. _Pray tell, what is so important?" She inquires, raising one of her perfectly arched eyebrows.

"It's none of your business," I snap, turning away from her, back to the moon.

"My, my, aren't you cranky tonight." She advances towards me; I can hear the rhythmic clicking of her high-heeled boots on the granite ground.

And now, of course, she's standing beside me, staring, just like she did during lunch that day.

"You are persistent," I mumble, looking at her reluctantly. "I'm still not going to talk to you about my personal problems."

"And what makes you think I would want to hear them? Haven't you ever heard of indifferent curiosity?" She's smiling now, and again, I feel the urge to hit her. Bitch slap her, pimp slap her, whatever.

"Ahem, Ella, aren't you cold?" She inquires, catching a strand of my wind-swept hair between her fingers. "It's not _that _cold," I say, uncomfortble with her touching me.

Oh, dear God, the bitch is _touching _me! Well, alright, only my hair, but regardless. I glance at her, prepared to pick at her lack of clothes, but I stop when I see the black pea coat she's wearing. Always fashionable, even at one o'clock in the morning. Her skirt is being whipped around my the wind, and I can't help stare, because really; someone who wears boots as tall as her's…

"Ella," she begins, biting her bottom lip, apparently at a loss for words, "Hattie, really, just go back to your dorm." I'm exasperated now. I just want her to go. The mutual loathing that floated around us was suffocating.

"I have never met anyone who is so put-off by my presence," she says, her syrupy tone suddenly congealing. I choose to remain silent, staring at the moon.

"Well, if that's the way you want it," she continues, still looking at me, though I refuse to return the gaze. "Oh, for _God's sake, Ella_!" She suddenly hisses, throwing her hands in the air, just as I had done only moments before. "What are you hissing about?" I demand, turning to her.

And oh-so suddenly, she grabs a fistful of my hair, and pulls me towards her, crushing her lips against mine. I'm reminded of all the times I'd seen Olive and Cecelia lock lips, and the sweet passion that I had imagined them having was absent in the way Hattie's lips move against mine.

They're insistent and greedy and lustful; demanding, forcing a response out of me when I want anything but to kiss her back. She doesn't love me. I don't love her. She hates me. I hate her. But she _wants _me, and in a way, I want her. Lust in love don't keep the same company, I know, we'll never be in love, but in lust is just perfect…

…damn my soul straight to hell! I find myself kissing her back, just as greedily; and a moan escapes her lips, and I swallow her gust of breath. This is wonderful and horrible and so right and so fucked up…

…somehow, I find the strength to pull away. Breathless, we stare at each other, my green eyes locking with her light blue ones. "Arieda…" I pant, but she only shakes her head. Without another word, she walks away, high-heels clicking, and all I can do it stare at her, trying to ignore the look on Arieda's face.

A/N: Whoot! Chapter two! I hope you all enjoyed it! I quite like it; I love what I did with Ella's narrative; she's confused and snaky and…oh! Love it! I can't wait to hear your thoughts!


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